Fall is officially here at last dear
readers and I feel great. The windows are open, ghost shows air
nightly, and store aisles are filled with so many fun things. It may
be out of fashion these days but I take a considerable amount of
pleasure from senseless materialism. Over the last week I've been
allowed to indulge like never before. Not all of it was silly though
as I now have life insurance for some odd reason. The main purpose of
this post was to write about a Thursday evening shopping spree but
seeing as I've written this intro three different ways already and
have a mystery box inbound, it's definitely time to get a move on and
show off all the new spooky items.
With seasonal décor finally on full
display it was time to shop for new Halloween items. Dollar tree is
always a fine spot as they have the best wall and window clings
around though they're sadly lacking in the toilet cling department.
I'd already nabbed a batch of clings a couple weeks ago but decided
to toss in one more for my sisters apartment as it's in dire need of
ghost babies. The inflatable eyeballs are yet another bit of visual
clutter to hang from the trees.
Michaels has a lesser offering than
previous years but these new half pumpkins for carving and hanging on
the wall were absolute must haves. I'd hopped to get a truckload of
em but of the small amount still in stock many were damaged. On one
hand this saves me some money. On the other, it prevents me from
staging our hallway like a late 90's music video.
It's possible that I've never spoken
of my admiration for Menards. For a place that's meant to serve
hardware and home repair needs it's a true bastion for novelties.
Like Michael's, their offering was a little lighter this year but
there were still some items of merit, among them were light up eyes
for the yard and a screaming face for one of the trees.
Of all the stores visited during the
spree, Target had the best decorations available though I chose to
hold off until some of it goes on sale. Honestly $25 isn't too bad
for an animatronic cat but it's hard to budget such item in when your
work schedule is “sometime.” Expect something from a return trip
in the coming weeks as there's just too many goodies to pass up.
Before I even knew when my shopping
trip would commence, I was finally able to get a good price on the
big box for Smash-Up. For those who've never encountered it, Smash-Up
is a card game where each player mixes two distinct groups together
(think zombie pirates, or ghost dinosaurs) and battle over bases with
different abilities. It's akin to taking a game like Magic the
gathering and stripping away complexities only to replace them with
fun & chaos. Proper Storage for the game ran dry quite some time
ago and this big box provides enough space for at least a decade
worth of expansions while adding geeks to mix in with the other
cards. Thanks to the inclusion of different monsters &
fantastical creatures this is a fine tile to include in your
Halloween game nights.
Barnes and Noble was in the midst of
fall clearance which usually provides nothing of interest for me.
That was pretty much the situation once again except for the presence
of a Gracie Law Funko Pop. Seeing as I'd received Lo-Pan for my
birthday, this presented an excellent opportunity to give him a bride
for just over four bucks.
B&N also had the producers cut of
Halloween 6 which I simply couldn't resist. While far from the best
entry in the series, The Curse of Michael Myers served as my entry
point to the franchise when I was just a wee lad. The Producer's cut
is a very different flick from what the theatrical version had to
offer but I wouldn't call it a better movie. There's less obnoxious
musical score (good) that's more repetitive (bad). There's more
mysticism and thought put into the cult subplot (good) but it veers
into the silly when Paul Rudd stops Michael with magic stones (bad).
It's kind of a mess and not wildly different enough to make up for
the shortcomings.
We still had a small stack of games
and movies which folks refused to buy during our yard sale. This
meant a trip to disc traders was in order to turn the stragglers into
something else. I was able to garner just enough cash to add a few
titles to the horror collection and finally give Watch Dogs a try.
Overall I'm enjoying the game despite some a fair share if
irritations. No clue how I'll feel about the whole experience once
it's done though so far it's more enjoyable than Assassin's Creed
Unity,
As for the movies; if you've never
seen The Pact I recommend you remedy that soon. It's not an amazing
flick but there's some solid scares to be had and Caity Lotz spends a
good amount of the film in very tiny underwear.
Coraline was a movie I'd been
cautiously avoiding for years mainly due to it's director. Much as I
love Nightmare Before Christmas, I can never forgive Henry Sellick
for his version of James and the Giant Peach. As it was one of the
first books I really read on my own, it was an important story to me
and the film proved to be a great disappointment. Coraline on the
other hand was surprisingly fresh and spooky. Not as good as the
studios second effort, Paranorman but then again what is?
It's basically a given that if I'm in
Lansing, a visit to Horrocks is in order. If you're ever in town it's
a really fine spot with good produce, unique foods, awesome candy,
and a massive beer selection. I pieced together a rather pricey six
pack of different seasonal goodies. Let's go through em left to
right.
McKenzie's Pumpkin Jack is a solid
idea. I mean pumpkin hard cider stands a very good chance of being
tasty yet like the standard flavors in this line it's just a little
too sweet and overbearing. Not bad mind you, just a bit overdone.
Nosferatu Imperial Red from Great
Lakes Brewing had me with the label art. The brewery itself has a
fiarly decent track record as well. This one failed to thrill though
and my brother actually thought it was awful. His opionion might be a
little harsh but this was pretty disappointing.
Traveler Pumpkin Shandy is pretty
tasty though like McKenzie's goes a little overboard in the sweet
department. Honestly, I'd rather go with Leinenkugel's variation on
this flavor as it goes down smoother.
New Belgium Pumpkick snuck into the
pack at the last minute with me thinking it was a simple pumpkin ale.
Not so as this is both pumpkin and cranberry, making for one of the
better drinks I've had in the last week. It's not for everyone since
the cranberry portion is pretty strong but I liked it.
Samuel Adams Pumpkin Batch was the
pick of the litter thanks to a very balanced taste that never veered
too far into the spice or beer department. It's odd as I don't recall
Sam Adams pumpkin efforts being this good. Suppose that explains the
new name.
Coronado Brewing Punkin Drublic was
problematic to say the least. It has a fairly high alchohol content
at 8% but the flavor was just way off mark. Not sure what the problem
is since the label fails to mention anything that makes this brew
unique. There's simply another flavor mixed in that doesn't
completely work with the base pumpkin goodness.
Got my hands on some seasonal cookies
and candies as well. Those should make good fodder for a separate
post so let's hold off on those for now. However, two more funko pops
were added to the collection over the weekend. Deathwing is an
awesome dragon who hails from World of Warcraft. I've zero experience
with the game itself but I couldn't resist getting a pop this cool,
all the more as I got a buy one get one half off deal with Pumpkin
Jack who makes for an outstanding spirit totem for the season.
That's all for for now. Be sure to
come back soon. Really soon, like maybe later today, for an unboxing.
See ya then.
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